US funding may ‘open the floodgates’ of arms to undesirable Iraqi & Syrian groups - Amnesty

Iraqi Shi'ite fighters pose with an Islamic State flag which they pulled down on the front line in Jalawla, Diyala province, November 23, 2014.(Reuters / Stringer) / Reuters

Amnesty says if the US Congress votes to increase military spending on the operation against the Islamic State, a deluge of weapons could be supplied to forces and armed groups “with terrible human rights records” in Iraq and Syria.

“In its rush to
‘degrade and destroy’ the Islamic State armed group, the Obama
administration must not trample its international human rights
obligations,”saidSunjeev Bery of Amnesty
International USA.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is annual
legislation that directs budgeting and expenditure for the US
military. The current legislation authorizes $6.6 billion for
operations against the Islamic State, the extremist group America
is targeting with airstrikes in Syria and Iraq.

According to Amnesty, if the Senate approves the new legislative
proposals, it “could simply open the floodgates, putting more
weapons into the hands of armed groups alleged to have committed
serious human rights abuses in both Iraq and Syria.”

“Members of Congress should vote against such proposals in
the NDAA and other legislation. In whatever form such legislation
passes,” said Bery.

He added that US Congress must “closely monitor how the
administration provides military aid. Congress must push the
White House and Pentagon to ensure all recipients of foreign
military aid are thoroughly vetted in line with existing US
laws.”

Amnesty International said it had recorded numerous rights
violations made by armed groups and state-backed forces in both
Iraq and Syria, and add that “unrestricted US military aid
could make matters even worse.”

“To the victims of atrocities during armed conflict, it’s
largely irrelevant what uniform the perpetrators wear,” said
Bery.

“Before releasing any new military aid to Iraq, the US
authorities must thoroughly vet all recipients, whether they are
state-sponsored forces or not, to rule out a substantial risk
they will commit further serious abuses.”

The NDAA also authorizes $521 billion in base discretionary
spending for Defense Department activities, as well as $64
billion for overseas contingency operations.